Be Brave, My Darling

Saying good-bye is never easy. Last week, when I looked at the house my children were born in from my rearview mirror, I could feel my heart tighten with that familiar pang I often feel when big moments or changes happen in my life. Change is hard - even when it's a welcomed change. And moving our family 1500 miles south from Washington State to Arizona was a welcomed, although difficult, change.
Our new home doesn't quite feel like home yet. There is too much still to be discovered. Too much still feels foreign, and as an introvert I deeply miss the beautiful solitude our last home provided us. But, we are an adventurous family. We joined the park service so that we could raise our children in the country's most beautiful and precious places. We wanted to teach them that the outdoors is a better playmate than an iPad, and that the things you think you need are relative to how far you have to drive to get them.

And so we are here. Shaken from our comfortable, though challenging, coastal home, and finding ourselves nestled next to the Grand Canyon, amongst pine trees and scrubby sagebrush instead of towering rainforest trees and sand. And you know what? That change is good. It shakes up the cobwebs, pushes us to try new things, and keeps us from getting too comfortable.

Photography is like that, too. As uncomfortable as it is, shaking yourself up and trying something new is sometimes exactly what you need. If you feel like your work has gone stale, or you're bored, or in a dreaded rut - sometimes the best way to fix it is to just try something different. Sometimes that can be as simple as using a well-loved lens in a new way. But sometimes you have to be dramatic and go all out. I'm currently toying around with the idea of selling my entire Canon set up to give Nikon a try. Why? Well, I suppose mostly because I've never tried it before. So: why not?

Of course, I'm also a bit scared and will likely change my mind - but sometimes just the thought of doing something dramatic is all you need to get you going again.

Big dreams, big ideas, big thoughts - they all start somewhere, and often the first step is some kind of change. Change is good. Even when it's scary. Don't be afraid to shake it up and try something new.